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Poveglia
Poveglia Kaia May (2016). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters International #2" (2016) (Comic p.8). Kaia May says: "So tell me, are you at all familiar with the island of Poveglia?" is a small island located between Venice and Lido in northern Italy's Venetian Lagoon. Over the centuries, it housed a fort to prevent naval incursions, a quarantine facility, and an asylum. It is believed around 100,000 people died on Poveglia. History Poveglia is located in the Venetian Lagoon just off the coast of Lido. The island was abandoned by its inhabitants in the 1300s then served as a military base, a plague refuge, and a mental hospital with a dubious reputation. In the 1920s, the head doctor of the asylum experimented on inmates. The 'bad vibes' generated by the experiments agitated ghosts dating back to the time of the Black Plague. The staff ignored their ghost stories and lobotomized anyone who complained then hid them away. The ghosts eventually turned their sights on the head doctor and haunted him. The doctor couldn't take it and hurled himself from the asylum's bell tower. However, a ghostly mist rose from the ground and strangled him before he landed. Ray Stantz (2016). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters International #3" (2016) (Comic p.9). Ray Stantz says: "Ghost echo. Bell's been gone for decades. Used to haunt the inmates of this asylum, if I'm not mistaken..." Ray Stantz (2016). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters International #3" (2016) (Comic p.9). Ray Stantz says: "It really got rolling back in the 1920s, by the way. The head doctor here was experimenting on the inmates, and the bad vibes from that stirred up ghosts dating back to the Plague. The hospital staff ignored stories of the hauntings, lobotomized anyone who complained and tucked'em away... until the ghosts decided to focus on the head doctor. They dogged him until he threw himself from the bell tower. Word is, the impact didn't even kill him – it was a ghostly mist that rose from the ground and strangled him!" Poveglia was completely abandoned in 1968. Ray Stantz (2016). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters International #2" (2016) (Comic p.8). Ray Stantz says: "It's in the Venetian Lagoon. Just off the coast of Lido. After being abandoned by inhabitants in the 1300s, it was everything from a military base to a plague refuge to a mental hospital with a hinky reputation before being fully and completely abandoned in 1968!" Over the decades, Poveglia garnered a reputation for being the most haunted portion of an extremely haunted area but the hauntings on the island remained benign. Ray Stantz (2016). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters International #3" (2016) (Comic p.2). Ray Stantz says: "This island's hauntings are supposed to be benign." During a battle between Proteus and two teams of Ghostbusters in the Firehouse, the former captured in eight Proton Streams and was required to reveal the future eight times. One of the glimpses gleaned was of the island's bell tower turned lighthouse with a local ghost hovering above it. Scandinavian entrepreneur Erland Vinter leased the island for development. Kaia May (2016). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters International #2" (2016) (Comic p.9). Kaia May says: "As you can see in the dossier, we have leased this island for development." The Ghostbusters' first assignment from Vinter was to clear Poveglia of all ghosts occupying it. While in Venice, an attempt to establish a baseline of psychokinetic activity did not go well because there were too many benign spirits present. They would be going in blind to Poveglia. Despite some issues with hiring someone willing to fly near the island, Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Winston Zeddemore took a helicopter from a heliport in Venice to Poveglia. They observed a 500 foot tall column of ghosts on the northern tip of the island. At 8:04 pm local time, the Ghostbusters searched for the column of ghosts but it had completely dissipated. They encountered the Plague Doctor Ghost outside the old asylum. It vanished before they could confine it in Proton Streams. Ray determined it had the biggest individual reading and trapping him would in theory bring down the P.K.E. levels to normal levels. They entered the asylum and heard a ghost echo of the bell tower ringing. As Ray told Peter and Winston about the asylum's nasty history, he got a double reading on the Giga meter. The Plague Doctor Ghost grabbed Ray and spun him around then told him to leave in Italian. Ray quickly fired his thrower just as the ghost tried to slam him into the floor. Ray landed in a basement and picked up the big reading again. He found a hollow section in a wall and blasted it. He discovered a Poveglian Artifact, a parchment drenched in P.K.E. and bearing a rune and Swedish writing. The ghost appeared behind Ray but Peter and Winston managed to snag and trap it. Ray tossed the artifact into another Trap then checked P.K.E. levels. They successfully put a dent into the local psychokinetic energy but it surprisingly rebounded at an exponential rate. Ray concluded Vinter would not be able to get any real estate out of the island. Vinter was less than satisfied with the evaluation. The Ghostbusters returned to Venice and prepared to set off on another assignment. Trivia *In Ghostbusters International #2: **On page 8, Ray summarizes the history of Poveglia and its variety of functions as: ***A military base in 1645 ***A plague refuge in 1805 ***A mental hospital in 1922 **Page 20, the appearance of the P.K.E. surge and purple hue on Poveglia is similar to Hart Island's appearance in Volume 2 Issue #17 an Issue #18. ***Peter mentions the old lighthouse. It was an old bell tower that was converted to a lighthouse in 1806. *In Ghostbusters International #3, on page 9: **Ray recounted some of Poveglia's paranormal lore ***The ghost echo of the bell tower's bell but is sometimes disputed as a buoy in the lagoon. ***In the 1920s, the head doctor of the asylum experimented on inmates but he was later driven insane by ghosts and tried to commit suicide by jumping from the bell tower only to be strangled by a mist. ***Inmates hearing the ghosts and being ignored ***Lobotomies were performed on patients with crude tools and were tortured in the bell tower *In Ghostbusters International #3, page 11, panel 3, the Plague Doctor tells Ray "Devi Andre" or "You must go" just like what the Venetian Shop Ghost told Peter in the previous issue **Incidentally, some visitors to Poveglia claim to hear a disembodied voice that says, "Leave immediately and do not return." Appearances IDW Comics *Ghostbusters Get Real **Issue #4 *Ongoing Series **Volume Three ***Ghostbusters International #2 ***Ghostbusters International #3 ***Ghostbusters International #4 ****Mentioned in What Came Before! page. What Came Before! (2016). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters International #4" (2016) (Comic What Came Before!). Line reads: "Peter, Winston, and Ray were dropped off on Poveglia Island, where they tracked down a Plague Doctor apparition, who, like the Venetian Shop Ghost in Ghostbusters International #2 and the Ghost Priests in Ghostbusters International #1 seemed eager to nudge the Ghostbusters away from this particular investigation." ***Ghostbusters International #5 ****Mentioned on What Came Before! page What Came Before! page (2016). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters International #5" (2016) (Comic What Came Before! page). Line reads: "Because the Ghostbusters couldn't wholly rid Poveglia of its centuries-long assortment of supernatural shenanigans, client Erland Vinter sent them from Venice, Italy to Paris, France." ****Alluded to by Egon on page 4 Egon Spengler (2016). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters International #5" (2016) (Comic p.4). Egon Spengler says: "The data collected on Poveglia aligned with a startling consistency to those I personally recorded more than twenty years ago in northern Europe, as well as those from the United Nations." ****Mentioned by Ray on page 17 Ray Stantz (2016). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters International #5" (2016) (Comic p.17). Ray Stantz says: "That's an artifact we found on the island of Poveglia that--" ***Ghostbusters International #8 ****Alluded to by Kaia on Page 18 Kaia May (2016). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters International #8" (2016) (Comic p.18). Kaia May says: "The Legend - the scrap of cloth found in Italy - could narrow it down, but as we know, it was destroyed." *Ghostbusters: Deviations **On page 37, Poveglia is mentioned in the recap at the end of the issue. Meanwhile in our Main Series (2016). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters: Deviations" (2016) (Comic p.37). Line reads: "Now, hired by Erland Vinter, Peter Venkman, Winston Zeddemore, and Ray Stantz venture to Poveglia Island, near Venice, Italy." References Gallery PovegliaIDW01.jpg|As seen in Ghostbusters Get Real Issue #4 PovegliaInternational3RegularCover.jpg|As seen on Ghostbusters International #3 regular cover Poveglia03.jpg|Bell tower seen in Ghostbusters International #3 Poveglia04.jpg|Outside the asylum in Ghostbusters International #3 Poveglia05.jpg|The asylum as seen in Ghostbusters International #3 Poveglia06.jpg|Asylum interior seen in Ghostbusters International #3 Category:Locations Category:IDW Locations